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Wild Camping on the Isle of Mull

So i wrote this post a while back and forgot to post it. Its a little story about the Isle of Mull.

Back in 2014 Armed with my trusty 19 year old Nissan Micro (sadly now departed), my beautiful wife and a boot full of camping gear we drove the 415 mile journey to the town of Oban and took the ferry over to this gem of an island for a week of wild camping and exploration.

We arrived on Mull mid-afternoon and first visited the nearby 13th century Castel Duart, after a short walk round the castle walls that overlook the sea we headed off to find our first camp spot on the shores of loch Buie, with our tent facing out to sea, a clear sky, sunset beach BBQ that we later turned into a campfire it was a marker of great things to come.

The next day we walked to Moy castle, a semi ruin that stands guard over Loch Buie, we hunted for a stone circle that eluded us and drove west through the mountains to our next destination of Carsaig. We arrived at lunch to take the highly recommended walk from the old port, under the dramatic sea cliffs to reach the Carsaig arches and the towering volcanic rock formations. It was a long walk with lots of birds to see as well as spotting a mink. The return walk was quite tiring and we were glad to get back to Carsaig before sun down, we pitched tent right on the edge of the old stone peer, ate our dinner, watched the seals play in the cove as the sun set and then had to hurry to bed as the midges had decided to attack. It was a same we could not stay up longer as it was a stunning location.

We rose early the next day and drove to the westerly point of Mull to catch a ferry over to the isle of Iona. Here we visited Iona Abbey, Founded by St Columba in 563 and then wandered to highest point of the island to enjoy the windy views. After this sunny day out we sailed back to the car and headed back along the Ross of Mull. It was getting late and with little in the way of a good camp spot we treated ourselves to a room in a local tavern for the night.

The following day we had arranged to go on a Sea Eagle spotting tour, we arrived in a towering forest to meet the ranger and just as we got out of the car a huge sea eagle flew above us, what a way to welcome guests. We spent the day learning about the sea eagles and golden eagles of mull, watched them flying around the valley and spotting there nest through the binoculars and scopes they had for us to use. It was a great day, soon after we head further north to find a camping spot in the shadow of Ben More, to light a fire and cook some dinner before nightfall.

In the morning we work early and packed up before we tackled the big challenge of the day, to climb Ben More, this Munro class mountain stands at 966 meters it’s the highest point on the island. It’s a long and steep climb but we made good time and reached the top with stunning views with eagles flying below us. A celebratory cookie was eaten and then back down to the sea to find our next camp spot.

For our next trip we took a boat trip out to The Treshnish Isle, where we got to spend time sat among the thousands of puffins that live on the island, they were so comfortable around humans it was a real treat to be in touching distance of these beautiful birds, next we sailed to the isle of Staffa and visited Fingal’s Cave where could admire the great volcanic columns that make up the Scottish side of the giants causeway.

Our final 2 days on the island where spent camping by the beach at the beautiful Calgary bay, from here we visited the town of Tobermory, including the Tobermory Distilary, we stopped and cutes café’s, visited almost abandoned fishing ports, explored the crazy woods of Calgary hotel, tried to spot otters (unsuccessfully) and enjoyed the amazing scenery of the north of the island.

Sadly it was now time to leave the wonderful island. We had been very fortunate to enjoy great weather and few midges while we visited and I look forward to our next Scotland trip.